For those who did not know, her short story, The Birds, was the basis for the iconic Hitchcock film.
In Praise of Daphne du Maurier
Friday, July 7, 2017
A Share of NY Times on one of my Favorite Authors
I first read Rebecca when I was a pre-teen. This has me wanting to re-read that novel and more for enjoyment and inspiration.
For those who did not know, her short story, The Birds, was the basis for the iconic Hitchcock film.
In Praise of Daphne du Maurier
For those who did not know, her short story, The Birds, was the basis for the iconic Hitchcock film.
In Praise of Daphne du Maurier
Tuesday, July 4, 2017
It's Getting Up that Counts
This is intended to be a short post. I have been absent too long from this blog and writing in general. But pack up I get, brush myself off and go back at the thing I love to do and need to do.... write and create.
Life is what happens while we make plans and sometimes it can suck the life (or at least the muse) out of you. Divorce, job loss, final illness and death of a parent, new duties as executor and guardian for a developmentally disabled sibling... Things that must be dealt with, grief that must be felt and moved through, responsibilities to assume. These can be the overwhelming focus of your days, they did mine. Life became not one to-do list but, at times, three. One was my personal to-do. It was mostly maintenance items. You know the kind, pay bills, grocery shop, vacuum. Yes, I had to remind myself to do these things. If I put write or even read on that list, it rarely was scratched off.
But time passes, things resolve themselves and that voice in your head becomes more insistent. My normal life, such as I defined normal, was returning. It may be a new normal but it is a good normal. I am healthy, the endless paperwork of life events is mostly behind me or incorporated into the new normal. I have a richer personal life with new grown children and a special man in my life. I started a new day job that I am pleased with and has enough potential to satisfy the practical side of my nature.
As this happened the voice in me, became louder and louder and more insistent. I joined a monthly book club to not only read but read intentionally. This sparked even more reading and added to the re-ignition of the seanchai in me. So the brainstorming started, I brushed off some old WIPs, and started to attempt to learn the process of outlining. Notice it was an ATTEMPT. I have set aside some of what I wrote years ago and started down fresh roads with some of the characters. I still haven't figured out where outlining fits in my process. But I know that where I start is with a vision of my main character in a setting with something important happening to them. That is the kernel of the plot, theme and journey. At least that is what I hope. Micaela (see my book Dark Dealings) is speaking to me again. I know she will get pushier... it's how we roll.
So I signed up for the July CampNaNoWriMo and set a modest goal for myself of an average of 500 words per day. For me, it is about Getting Back Up. What have you set aside that you MUST get back up and do? What is the passion that is inside you that is a glowing ember waiting to be fanned back into life?
If you want to read a post that came to my inbox at the right time read this from Jami Gold
Life is what happens while we make plans and sometimes it can suck the life (or at least the muse) out of you. Divorce, job loss, final illness and death of a parent, new duties as executor and guardian for a developmentally disabled sibling... Things that must be dealt with, grief that must be felt and moved through, responsibilities to assume. These can be the overwhelming focus of your days, they did mine. Life became not one to-do list but, at times, three. One was my personal to-do. It was mostly maintenance items. You know the kind, pay bills, grocery shop, vacuum. Yes, I had to remind myself to do these things. If I put write or even read on that list, it rarely was scratched off.
But time passes, things resolve themselves and that voice in your head becomes more insistent. My normal life, such as I defined normal, was returning. It may be a new normal but it is a good normal. I am healthy, the endless paperwork of life events is mostly behind me or incorporated into the new normal. I have a richer personal life with new grown children and a special man in my life. I started a new day job that I am pleased with and has enough potential to satisfy the practical side of my nature.
As this happened the voice in me, became louder and louder and more insistent. I joined a monthly book club to not only read but read intentionally. This sparked even more reading and added to the re-ignition of the seanchai in me. So the brainstorming started, I brushed off some old WIPs, and started to attempt to learn the process of outlining. Notice it was an ATTEMPT. I have set aside some of what I wrote years ago and started down fresh roads with some of the characters. I still haven't figured out where outlining fits in my process. But I know that where I start is with a vision of my main character in a setting with something important happening to them. That is the kernel of the plot, theme and journey. At least that is what I hope. Micaela (see my book Dark Dealings) is speaking to me again. I know she will get pushier... it's how we roll.
So I signed up for the July CampNaNoWriMo and set a modest goal for myself of an average of 500 words per day. For me, it is about Getting Back Up. What have you set aside that you MUST get back up and do? What is the passion that is inside you that is a glowing ember waiting to be fanned back into life?
If you want to read a post that came to my inbox at the right time read this from Jami Gold
Thursday, June 4, 2015
The Beach at the Sea Foam Apartments....
Today we welcome D.J. Kozlowski. D.J stopped in the Grove to talk about his new release, The Beach at the
Sea Foam Apartments, a Sea Mist Series short. Available for pre-order on Amazon,
iBooks, Kobo, AllRomance/OmniLit and GooglePlay.
Author’s Blurb and Excerpt:
Minor magic can have unintended consequences. At the beach across from the Sea Foam
Apartments, the fates of five people are tragically altered through Melinda’s
well-intentioned meddling. Now, Melinda
has a chance to help these people find their destinies and restore life to the
beach, but she’ll need some help.
Fortunately, someone has been watching.
“She recalled the sun
rising from behind the sea, darkening then illuminating the lighthouse and
brightening the sands whose sparkle mixed with the shimmering waves to cast all
the early joggers in a discotheque strobe. This place had magic to it.”
Storyteller’s Grove: So tell our readers how it started…
D.J: I started
writing this book after seeing a friend's social media post about the call for
submissions. At that point there were about three days left to submit. I had
some time, so I challenged myself to gather some of the thoughts rattling
around in my brain and transpose them to paper in some sort of orderly fashion.
It was a scramble and took a lot more effort than I
anticipated. The story was there and the writing came easy, but keeping
everything straight and ensuring that everything that needed to be resolved was
resolved was tough. I had a hard time holding back. I wanted to go in-depth on
some character background or sprinkle-in other characters who live in my head.
But I don't like extraneous text in stories--especially short stories. I added
what I felt I needed to advance the story and describe the scenes, but that was
all.
Three Worlds Press responded to my submission quickly, and
it was off to the races. I was fortunate to have a fantastic content editor,
Missy (Melissa) Shirley (who's also an author--you should check her out). She
was patient and careful. We rarely disagreed and worked efficiently to
tighten-up the story. After that it was a simple matter of choosing artwork and
getting the cover to look right.
Author Bio:
D.J. Kozlowski writes gothic horror, dark fantasy, and
magical realism, drawing inspiration from the likes of Poe and Lovecraft. When
he’s not writing, D.J. counsels businesses as an attorney. He lives in
Connecticut with his wife, 3 kids, and fish, the latter of which is constantly
being replaced for the sake of the children. He tries not to take life too
seriously.
Amazon: http://amzn.com/B00YTISHKE
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/D_J_Kozlowski_The_Beach_at_the_Sea_Foam_Apartments?id=83rFCQAAQBAJ
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